Modern imaging techniques, such as positron emission tomography (PET), allow the imaging of the interior of a target object without physically penetrating the surface of the target. Common non-invasive imaging techniques include X-ray tomography, nuclear magnetic resonance imaging, ultrasound, and positron emission tomography. These techniques are used extensively in the medical field. By allowing indirect observation of the interior of the human body, these imaging techniques give medical professionals increased diagnostic information without the accompanying risk of conventional exploratory techniques.
The use of medical imaging in the diagnosis of cardiovascular disorders has assumed special prominence over the last decade. Heart disease presently accounts for nearly half of all deaths in developed nations. The detection of anomalous cardiac function in a timely and efficient manner is critical in diagnosing and treating heart disease. As the average age of populations within developed nations continues to increase, early diagnosis of heart disease will become increasingly important.
A common technique for diagnosing abnormalities in the human heart is echocardiography. Echocardiography allows a medical professional to view a functioning heart and evaluate any anomalies in the structure or function of the heart in real time. Echocardiograms have been used successfully in the evaluation of cardiac function, the diagnosis of mitral-value prolapse, the evaluation of aortic and pulmonary values, and the diagnosis of congenital heart disease. Advances in ultrasound imaging have greatly increased the accuracy and definition of echocardiogram images, making it possible to perform increasingly accurate quantitative evaluations of the structure and function of the heart.
Most evaluation of echocardiograph results is performed qualitatively from a human review of the images, but valuable data can be obtained through quantitative assessment as well. Currently, a quantitative evaluation of the results of an echocardiogram requires an operator to manually outline the visible structures within a series of images. Parameters of interest can then be calculated from the outlined contours and the regions they enclose. This process is both time-consuming and subjective. As a result, it is difficult to obtain accurate and reproducible results for cardiac measurements in a reasonable period of time. This problem is exacerbated by an increasing volume of patients, which further decreases the time available for the evaluation of the echocardiogram images.